Balboa Park news & stories
Like Hamlet’s father’s ghost, they only exist between the footlights and the proscenium.
The Museum of Photographic Arts showcases a year in photojournalism.
Miles Anderson does amazing things as Shylock in the Old Globe’s Merchant of Venice, but his most understated choice sets the tone of the play. Bassanio wants to wed Portia, “a lady richly left/ And …
Pictures of the Year International, on view at the Museum of Photographic Arts until September 22. 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619-238-7559; mopa.org In Kinsasha, a troubled, impoverished city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, …
Heymatt: What’s the tallest tree in San Diego? I have some guesses, but I suspect I’m completely wrong. And I wonder if the tallest tree in these parts is one that was planted by humans …
Twenty-six-year-old Hassan Sheighei lost his leg in a gun battle ten years ago in Somalia. He was walking to the store when he heard gunfire. He saw someone running, and the Somali enemy mistook him …
A man fell to the ground, suffering from a apparent heart attack while jogging in Balboa Park on Wednesday, May 29. A woman, walking by with her husband, turned out to be a registered nurse …
An enthusiastic crowd estimated at over 1000 gathered at the fountain in Balboa Park on May 25 as part of the international “March Against Monsanto.” The event took place simultaneously in 45 countries and 400 …
She flits about like a sand flea, never in one place, or one state of mind, for long.
Strollers in Balboa Park on Sunday, April 19, were treated to a colorful and exotic treat as Sabrina Fox and her belly-dance students put on a show near the large fountain in front of the …
The Arts of Piranesi, on view at the San Diego Museum of Art until July 7. 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619-232-7931; sdmart.org You can’t always get what you want, and you can’t always determine …
Dad thought I was kidding when I warned him that I wouldn’t be able to restrain myself if he lured that squirrel any closer. “David says I have a Snow White complex, but he doesn’t …
During construction of a highway ramp in San Diego’s North County last month, a paleontologist working for a local museum spotted some ancient bones in the dirt. Brad Riney, who is described as a “paleontological …
"Families are terrorized by their weakest member,” says a character in Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities. The line’s got that yowza zing to it, as if a fire-spewing profundity. But give it some thought …
Will Barton was walking home late one night in October 2012 when Philip Martin Hernandez, on a crime rampage with his young wife (Cindy Altamirano Garcia), shot him a few times and left him for dead. As he struggles to heal, health insurance companies create barriers.
Bill Traylor: Drawings from the Collections of the High Museum of Art and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, on view at the Mingei International Museum until May 12. 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. 619-239-0003; …
The San Diego History Center (1649 El Prado, #3, Balboa Park) is trading in tuna cans for beer bottles. They’ve transformed the space that recently housed an exhibit paying homage to San Diego’s tuna fishing …
A crew was unloading a new group of dinosaurs Monday, April 1 in Balboa Park. The new exhibit, scheduled to open on April 12 at the San Diego Natural History Museum, or "The Nat" as …
You see a great number in a musical and stop the show with rabid applause. But how many times have you really wanted the show to stop — and have them repeat the number on …
If I had my wedding to do over again, I would have it in Balboa Park. In my opinion it’s the most romantic setting in San Diego. It’s no surprise that the majority of those …
Jessica Lange: unseen, is on view at the Museum of Photographic Arts until May 19, 1649 El Prado, San Diego, 619-238-7559; mopa.org Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges have two things in common, photography and King …
Democratic Lt. governor Gavin Newsom made some waves here just over a year ago when then–Jerry Sanders media handler Rachel Laing tweeted a link to a letter from Newsom to Milford Wayne Donaldson, advising the …
With one step, the air changed from fresh morning cool to middle-of-the-rainforest hot. The atmosphere inside the Reptile House was so thick, I thought if I opened my mouth I’d have to chew in order …
I couldn’t think of two people with more divergent worldviews than my father — a ribald Brooklyn boy turned retired naval officer who runs military war games abroad — and the proper young woman with …
What a treat! George Bernard Shaw’s back at the Old Globe — finally! — with first-class direction, performances, and design work. Even a balky turntable on opening night couldn’t tarnish the luster. For the past …
Wardrobe malfunctions of the very stareable.
The San Diego City Council on January 8 unanimously approved a cooperative agreement between the City and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to seismically retrofit and rehabilitate the Laurel Street (Cabrillo) Bridge. Under the …
The Save Syrian Children contingent of the Syrian American Council marched in Balboa Park today, November 17. For the past two years, the group has held demonstrations to draw attention to the ongoing civil war …
Cross seven access bridges to San Diego’s historical streetcar routes on this downtown loop walk that blends the present with the past.
Guidebook author Jerry Schad’s favorite Balboa Park trail and an opportunity to volunteer service.
Everything became extreme, chaotic, life-threatening for over 120,000 Japanese Americans.
Last month, the San Diego Art Institute’s Museum of the Living Artist received a grant from the City of San Diego and San Diego Gas and Electric via the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership. The Energy …
Balboa Park was awash with thousands of runners on the morning of Saturday, March 3. They were taking part in the second annual 5K run organized by the Chelsea's Light Foundation, which raises money to …
La Jolla billionaire Irwin Jacobs has continued to pull out all the stops in his efforts to get his controversial parking and transportation plan for Balboa Park approved by the city council. As reported earlier, …
Aaron Feldman’s so connected that when he sits by the pool and the beer runs out, he whines: “No one has texted me in, like, AN HOUR!” He lives in Brentwood, his father’s a big-time …
The sun glinted off oak trees. Golf carts waddled down the fairway. A dry, light breeze signaled an impending Santa Ana. I gazed upon this glorious scene, sipping Stella Artois, happy to be alive and …
The plummy walls of the San Diego Museum of Art give the exhibition they surround, From El Greco to Dalí, a velvet jewel-case warmth. If the rooms were full of Goya’s ferocious Caprichos or Disasters …
We’re cognizant of but normally don’t heed the fact that we’re hostages of fortune. I sometimes think photography was invented as a memory aid to press upon us that unhappy fact. The first batch of …
“I tried to rescue the Starlight Bowl because I saw the amazing potential a venue like that had,” says Chris Leyva after learning that managers of the 4000-plus seat amphitheater had recently filed bankruptcy. “I …
“George Bernard Shaw” may have been his best fictional creation. The cantankerous genius loved to rant, like a spoiled brat, and turn conventions upside down. He renounced capitalism, organized religion, and social injustice, along with …
Since The Tempest opened in 1611, people have wondered where Shakespeare located its strange, enchanted isle. Prospero’s enemies are returning to Naples from a wedding at Tunis. A storm blasts them onto the rocks of …
For a bit of morning exercise, especially if you’re a local San Diegan, consider this quick jaunt at the San Diego Zoo — a place not normally thought of as a hiking destination. Get there …
In the dead of summer, temperatures in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, reach triple digits, with the humidity not far behind. The town, 60 miles north of Tulsa, near the Kansas border, lies along Tornado Alley. But in …
The atrium at the Museum of Photographic Arts offers an essay on what we thought we were as a people during the ’50s and ’60s. Constellated images by several photographers tell us that, before anything …
Even if it’s at the expense of the public, the City of San Diego wants to ensure that certain employees of America’s finest city have an appreciation for fine arts — or so it seems, …
As a warm-up before you see the splashy Gainsborough exhibition running at the San Diego Museum of Art, make a pass at Fragonard’s late 1770s Blindman’s Buff in the Timken. In a vaguely bucolic setting, …
Balboa Park’s trail system is just about complete. After several years of planning and implementation, five trail “gateways” are in place, and a total of 19 trails emanate from those gateways. Throughout the park, sprucing …
Charging stations for electric vehicles are coming to Balboa Park, said Charlie Daniels from the City's parks and recreation division during the April 7 meeting of the Balboa Park Committee. Daniels said three charging stations …
Since Qualcomm cofounder Irwin Jacobs announced plans to remove vehicles from Balboa Park's Plaza de Panama last August, critics and park preservationists have asked to hear alternatives to the proposal. At the center of the …
I’m sitting on a bench in the San Diego Museum of Art, which has just opened an exhibition by the British painter Howard Hodgkin. Pretty quiet here, only four other warm bodies, one of them …
On March 4, Mark Johnson, the lead designer on Balboa Park's Plaza de Panama project, gave an update to the Balboa Park advisory committee. Johnson says that his firm, Civitas, continues to conduct public outreach …
Rob Steppke chairs the North Park Planning Group. He also sits on the Balboa Park Committee, an advisory committee to the mayor and city council. On February 15, Steppke asked his fellow North Park planners …